MY ACCOUNT
Xavi believes Barcelona being eliminated from the Champions League prior to kick-off led to their insipid showing in a 3-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich.
Inter’s 4-0 win against Viktoria Plzen earlier on Wednesday meant Barca were unable to progress from Group C, leading to a second season of dropping into the Europa League following the group stage.
A slow start from the Blaugrana saw them fall 2-0 down after 31 minutes, with Sadio Mane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scoring, before Benjamin Pavard tapped in a third in second-half stoppage time.
Speaking after the loss, the Barca coach acknowledged his side were outclassed, saying: “Today we didn’t compete, we didn’t reach their level. [Bayern] were very good, much better, more intense.
“I’m sure that the elimination before the game affected us psychologically. I’m sure it did.”
This was the first time Barca have been eliminated from the Champions League group stage in back-to-back seasons since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns under Louis Van Gaal.
Xavi bemoaned being drawn into a tough group, and seemed to suggest that he and the club will not necessarily view their elimination as “failure”.
“We were drawn in a really difficult group and everything has happened to us in the Champions League,” he added. “It was very cruel, but today we didn’t compete. On other days we did, but not today.
“I understand that from the outside people talk about failure, but from the inside we have a different analysis.
“It’s a cruel way to go out of the competition, but if we analyse the other games, I think we deserved more.”
